By Mike McClary

Posts tagged “Lou Whitaker”

Jason Thompson Born: July 6, 1954 in Hollywood, Calif. Bats: Left Throws: Left Height: 6′ 4″ Weight: 200 lb. Acquired: Drafted by the Tigers in the fourth round of the 1975 amateur draft. Seasons in Detroit: 5 (1976-80) Uniform Number: 30 Stats: .256 avg., 98 HR, 354 RBI, .779 OPS Awards: Three-time All Star (1977, ’78 and ’82) On May 27, 1980, Tigers GM Jim Campbell traded my favorite player, first baseman Jason Thompson, to the California Angels for outfielder Al Cowens. The Hollywood native joined the Tigers full time in 1976 and played 123 games that year, hitting .218, with 17 home runs and 54 RBI. Two of the homers cleared the rightfield roof at Tiger Stadium. It was in 1977, though, that…

So after all the Hall of Fame ballots were counted, Tigers fans could only take solace in that Jack Morris saw his percentage of votes jump to 53.5 percent. That could bode well for the future but probably not next year. Anyway, all the debates about whether Morris or Alan Trammell belong in Cooperstown got me wondering who the most-similar players are two these Tigers greats. Thanks to the invaluable Baseball-Reference.com, we can get a quick look at how a player’s stats compare to others in baseball history. I decided to look at how Baseball Reference compares Morris, Trammell and the BBWA-voter-shafted Lou Whitaker.

Tito Fuentes Born: January 4, 1944 in Havana, Cuba. Acquired: Signed as a free agent on Feb. 23, 1977 Height: 5′ 11″ Weight: 175 lb. Seasons in Detroit: 1 (1977) Uniform Number: 3, 44 Stats: .309 avg., 5 HR, 51 RBI, .745 OPS When the Tigers sought a player to oversee second base until Lou Whitaker was ready, they could have done a lot worse than Rigoberto “Tito” Fuentes. Offensively, that is. The switch-hitting 33 year old trailed only Ron LeFlore‘s team-leading .325 average that season but was brutal in the field. He led all American League second baseman with 26 errors, and posted a .970 fielding percentage. Fans that remember Fuentes’ brief stop in Detroit are more likely to recall his signature bat…

It’s early January which means I have to write a post about how I’ll hold out hope that Jack Morris will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Gobs of articles have been written in the past couple of weeks, the majority of which put The Cat squarely in the “great but not Hall-of-Fame great” category. Sadly, many of them, such as this one by Joe Posnanski, make terrific arguments against Morris’ chances. Even sadder, I’m starting to believe them. As a result I’m resigned to the fact he won’t be elected this year, if ever. But wait! I have some anecdotes of my own: In the summer of 2008 I attended the SABR Convention in Cleveland and asked former Indians outfielder Rick…

Well, no Tigers player won a Gold Glove this season, though some held out hope that Austin Jackson might’ve come away with some hardware. His day will come, I’m sure. Let’s look back at the Gold Glove winners in franchise history: 1957 Al Kaline OF 1958 Frank Bolling 2B Al Kaline OF 1959 Al Kaline OF 1961 Al Kaline OF Frank Lary P 1962 Al Kaline OF